Shelby Eakle with some nice ones. 
The lake level is 554.30 and is the same as at this time yesterday with spillway gates open to an equivalent of 3/4 of a generator. The White River is 17.29 feet and rising and is not low anymore. They are trying to get the lake back down to the top of the power pool of 553.75 but are reluctant to drop it much past that. I would like to see it at 548 going into May and give us a little surge capacity with the spring rains. The surface water temperature is 44-degrees on the main lake in the Blackburns area. I am mostly fishing brush piles for bass and crappie because the brush does not move and I do not have to motor all over the lake for hours to find them. The fish that I am catching are in about 20-30 feet of water suspended or near the bottom during the day and move up shallower just before dark. I am casting a small jig or grub past the brush and letting it sink into it but if there is no wind you can drop a spoon and keep it vertical in the brush. Bring your rod up 5-6 feet and let the spoon fall on slack line. Do not snap it up like in the summer but slower, Some are right in the brush and some are around it near the bottom. Main lake points or just around on windblown banks are the best. Some fish are right in the brush and you cannot see them very good on the locator so spend a lot of time in the good places even though they are not biting yet. If you are a troller go across from Panther Bay near the bridges, across from Bidwell Park or in Howards Cove going into 101 Marina and looks for broken schools of shad just off the main river channel. More looking than finding but several species of fish are on shad in the absence of the big stripers and if you drag an umbrella or live bait through enough of them you will catch some fish. Otherwise drop a spoon on their heads. For bass go partway back in a creek on a windblown bank just around a point near deep water. Set your boat as far as you can cast to the bank with a 3/16th or 1/4 ounce jig head on a 3-inch green stingray grub and let it sink as it comes towards the boat. You are not looking for any action from the grub but keep it sinking all the time and do not drag bottom. Your line should be straight up and down when your lure gets to the boat and nearly touching bottom. If it hits bottom before that move the boat out deeper. Learn how to do this well and you will give up trolling and catch some big bass. I have not caught a walleye in two weeks and do not klnow where they are. I suspect they are moving upstream for the February spawn but am not sure. I do not travel that far much but catch about all the fish that I need close to home. I am too poor to afford the gas to search for broken schools of shad all over the lake and do not eat red meat fish anyway. Yes Blackburns is open all year and have the best prices in the Ozarks on both cabins and boat rentals. A free stall for your boat comes with the cabin and all cabins are individual with no duplexes and all have big covered porches to get out of the sun and rain. Give Debbie a call at 870-492-5115 for a reservation and we will not charge you too much. No we are not for sale.
